Several people have pointed out that Andrea Fay Friedman — the actor who did the voiceover for Ellen, a.k.a. “Down syndrome Girl” on that recent Family Guy episode — responded to Palin’s criticism of the show. (Here is a link to the the clips if you didn’t get a chance to see them.) And if […]
Back to the whole Family Guy thing. I know I said we should leave Sarah Palin out of it, but of course you know I didn’t really mean it. I mean, I did want to figure out whether that Down syndrome Girl episode was funny or not, on its face (general consensus from admittedly biased […]
As we left Starbucks this morning, I heard Annabelle instruct Sophie on how to put her “iced mocha” (a kid-sized chocolate milk with ice) into her cup holder. It was a rite of passage. As you might know, car seats don’t come equipped with cup holders. At least, ours didn’t when we bought them a million […]
It’s barely February, but talk has already turned to What Fourth Grade Teacher Should I Request for Annabelle and What Will Happen to Sophie in Second Grade? The special ed teacher called yesterday — it’s time to schedule the pre-IEP meeting. Let the games begin. Sophie’s main challenge, as predicted, is writing. I saw it […]
We went to the zoo Sunday afternoon, along with most of greater Phoenix. It was the perfect day — sunny but chilly enough that nothing smelled bad. You might make the giraffes your first stop at the zoo, or the zebras or the squirrel monkeys, but not our family — we hit the carousel. The girls broke […]
Last week, New York Times blogger Lisa Belkin posed the question, “Should Down syndrome be cured?” I posted a link to her piece, but I didn’t fire off a response. I needed to give the whole thing some thought, I figured. This is fundamental. The truth is that I will think about this for my […]
We all fall into patterns — some more flattering than others. One of my less becoming? I’ve fallen into a habit of dressing Sophie myself. She’s perfectly capable of choosing her clothes and dressing herself (with the exception of some shoes) and yet yesterday morning I realized that there I was — half-dressed myself, harried […]
I’ve come to the conclusion, after this weekend, that it’s as though Sophie’s emotional thermostat is broken. Or at least a bit off. Maybe it’s her social thermostat, rather than emotional. And maybe I shouldn’t say “broken.” I know I shouldn’t say broken. I’m struggling with how to explain it. Saturday afternoon, I took the […]
My dear friend Mrs. M snapped this photo of Sophie last month, and I haven’t been able to stop looking at it — and not just because it’s of my kid. I tried to describe why, but my words aren’t adequate, so I’ll just leave you with the picture.
Lately, I’ve noticed that I haven’t been writing so much about Sophie and Down syndrome, per se. Maybe it was the distractions of the holiday season, but I think it’s more than that. Funny, when she was born, the doctors and other experts warned us that as she grew, we’d see her differences more. Instead, more and […]
